The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-09-27
THE SECOND DISTRICT.
An Aged Mormon Pronounced
Not Guilty.
THE VERY FLIMSY TESTIMONY
Trial of Thomas Taylor
Tomorrow.

BEAVER, September 26.-LSpecIal to
THE HERALD.l-In court this morning
the case o. oldJohn W. Norton,
patriarch. was called for trial.
D. Griffin, juror, of Kanarrah,
Iron County, was examined at length,
and made conspicuous figure by Zane.
Was member of the church, but did not
endorse all the principles. Had been
elder of the church six years.
eff you were selected a juror
in a case of this kind, and
while you were on the jury should re-
ceive an order or counsel of any kind
from the authorities of the Mormon
Church to act in certain way, would
not that influence your Verdiet2"
A. don t think it would"
Suppose. while acting in this par
ticular case, there should be an ad-
journment of court during the trial,
and you should not be in charge of the
officers of the court during that time,
and acting as juror in this case, you
should receive counsel from the
authorities of the Mormon Church to
act in a certain way, as juror. would
you not be Influenced by that coun-
sci ?"
A.-"No, sir, 1 would not"
Q-"As matter or fact, as an elder
of the Mormon Church, whose duty it
is to preach, teach and expound the
Scriptures, don't you think the doctrine
of plural marriage is a doctrine of the
Scriptures2 Don't you think the Old
Scriptures teach the doctrine Of plural
| marriage?"
hcl in n IN,
the Scriptures and Bible"
He was further examined by Zane as
to the duties of elders, when the wit
ness answered: Il believe they are
misrepresented a good deal"
After Denny's and Chidester's getting
off all the Josephites for cause
possible, and exhausting their full
peremptOry challenges, Zane opened
the case. placing Rebecca Nor
ton on the stand. She testified that
she married the defendant in 1916 in
Council Bluffs. To her personal knowl-
edge defendant and the plural wife
agreed to live apart and obey the
Edmunds law on its passage; they
parted when the bill passed
VIM. Norton, son OF the plural wife,
! testified as to the house his mother
occupied. Since the separation, his
mother being a weaver with a home
made loom, had been working out at
the neighbors, mainly supporting her
self.
VIM. Thompson, Jr., deputy United
| States M rshal, was then put on the
stand, and furnished all the testimony
in the case by stating that on August
81 he found defendant, first wife. sec
ond and other members of the family
eating breakfast at IN the morning at
defendants and the first wife's log
house.
That was all the evidence in the case.
Denny, for the defense, called Sarah
Norton, the youngest child-l3 years
old-of the plural wife. She testified, all
the time in tears, that the only time her
mother associated for years or eat with
her father, was the morning the depu-
| ties arrested her mother.
The first wife was recalled and testified
to the fact of the agreement to separate
years ago in order TO obey the Edmunds
law; that Martha, the second wife, was
asked and sent for By Rebecca, to come
to breaktast-not by defendant-and
was found eating At RebecCa's house
when Thompson came, arrested her
and served subp9nas.
Zane argued that there was no length
OF Time necessary 10 prove COndDlta-
ton, but if defendant was found eating
with polygamous women any time dur
ing the period mentioned the evidence
was sufficient to find a verdict of
guilty.
J.F. Chichester, of Panguitch, made
his first argument in this court in
polygamy case, ard appealed earn
estly to the juror as to the age and
feebleness of defendant. and held that
the prosecution had proved only the
fact that defendant had been seen eat
ing with two women said to be his
wives on the morning of the arrest.
Denny followed in a legal argument
of half an hour, showing the
Jury the insufficiency of the testi-
mony. He offered six instructions to be
be given the jury, mainly based on and
drawn from the instructions given by
Judge Zane in the Third District and
published in Salt Lake papers, but all
were refused.
The jury was out half an hour, and
then came into court and asked to hear
the instructions read again. They
were read again and Boreman leaned
more to the insufhciency of the evil
dence, and the jury, after retiring again
for fifteen minutes, came into court
with verdict of mot guilty"
Riddles and Wilkinson 8 cases will be
tried tomorrow and TaylOr's follows